


certain dark things

by girlsarewolves



Series: treats [5]
Category: The Haunting of Hill House (TV 2018)
Genre: All Consuming Obsession, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Body Horror, Dark, Dubious Consent, Dubious Morality, F/M, Ghost watches as someone fucks their body to resurrect them, Incest, Necrophilia, POV Alternating, POV Second Person, POV Third Person, Resurrection, Ritual Sex, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 14:22:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20583941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlsarewolves/pseuds/girlsarewolves
Summary: Nell stands beside him. Staring off into space, maybe pulled back into that awful moment.‘What if it fails?’“Then I’ve hit a new low, I guess.” He lays her down, gingerly, careful as he spreads her body to lie flat on the floor. “But that’s the truth either way.” He wipes at his face, shaking, eyes stinging. Swallows down the sharp, acidic taste of bile. “...tell me you don’t want to come back. Tell me this isn’t hell. Tell me you don’t miss us, miss life. Tell me, and I’ll stop. I’ll put you back in the earth, and I’ll go away.”





	certain dark things

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hearthouses](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hearthouses/gifts).

> So, major squick warning, I tried to tag everything. I...I don't know where this came from, tbh, it is definitely one of the more disturbing things I've written, but hopefully you enjoy!

* * *

‘Please, don’t do this.’

Nell’s voice echoes throughout the decaying halls of Hill House. She stands in the corner of his vision - but when he turns to look, there’s no one there.

“I can’t do this without you.”  _ I tried, _ he doesn’t say. _ I tried, and it hurts too much. I tried, but now I’ve found a way around this. _ He cradles her body to his chest, ignores the heavy stench of rot that’s infested her, eating away at the cavities where her soul and her spirit and her heart used to be.

‘Yes, you can. What happens if this doesn’t work?’ She whispers from just behind. She won’t be there if Luke turns around.  _ What happens if what you bring back isn’t me _ , she doesn’t have to add.

The house is aglow with warm, gentle lamp light. Something welcoming, inviting. Happy to have wayward Luke back in its embrace again. Whatever depths he’s reached, the house doesn’t seem to mind. 

It should be a red flag. Luke is well beyond registering any warnings.

The library is awake when he crosses the threshold of the room. Dust and cobwebs and dirty sheets covered by the illusion of cozy cleanliness, well lived in and well kept, like a real home. Not a room that murders, where corpses are left to be discovered.

‘Luke...you don’t have to do this.’

She hovers in his peripheral vision. Flickers in and out this time when he turns his head towards her - like she has a stronger presence in this room even while she battles against the illusion it’s set as a trap. ‘Luke…’ She keeps her eyes fixed on his face. Doesn’t let her gaze trail down to see what state her body is in now.

“Yes. I do.”

‘And if it fails?’

He bows his head. Looks down at the pale and blotchy skin, the scraggly and dried out hair. Nausea bubbles up in his stomach - it isn’t the horror of what he’s going to do that makes him sick, though - so sick that his mind drifts to the thought of the sweet and deceitful comfort of a needle. No, it’s seeing Nell like this...her body an empty and lifeless vessel that looks and smells like rotten fruit.

_ Then maybe it’s time I join Mom’s tea party _ . The words lie on his tongue. Luke swallows them down, isn’t capable of handling the way that will hurt Nell. 

The body must be laid on the spot where she died. Every step he takes is stilted, shaky. He doesn’t want to stand in that spot, feel the cold and the despair that lingers, feel the phantom snap in his neck. He doesn’t stop until he’s there and it washes over him like a sudden onset of withdrawal.

Nell stands beside him. Staring off into space, maybe pulled back into that awful moment.

‘What if it fails?’

“Then I’ve hit a new low, I guess.” He lays her down, gingerly, careful as he spreads her body to lie flat on the floor. “But that’s the truth either way.” He wipes at his face, shaking, eyes stinging. Swallows down the sharp, acidic taste of bile. “...tell me you don’t want to come back. Tell me this isn’t hell. Tell me you don’t miss us, miss life. Tell me, and I’ll stop. I’ll put you back in the earth, and I’ll go away.”

His sister, his twin - his other half - stands there, swaying, eyes glassy and staring into the darkness of Hill House, seeing past the illusion Luke’s let himself fall for this time. She doesn’t say anything.

“Okay then.”

* * *

Light candles, place them around the body. Cut your hand, sprinkle the blood on her lips, on her eyes, over her heart. Whisper the words you just barely memorized and only crudely understand.

Strip.

Don’t chicken out. Don’t get sick. Don’t break down crying, because this isn’t how you wanted to be with your sister - but you did want that, didn’t you? It’s unclean and wrong no matter what. So don’t break down.

Lay down, lay your body on hers, press your mouth to her mouth.

Breathe.

Give your sister your blood and your breath and your warmth. Give your sister your body, full of life and spirit and everything that makes you, you. You’re part of her. She’s part of you. Give her yourself, and don’t think about the consequences.

Don’t think about the house watching you, waiting to laugh if you fail.

“I love you.” Say it when you use your bloody hand to make yourself hard. Say it when you press your cock there. Say it when you thrust in. Say it over and over between the incantation, say it over and over, and listen to her say it back from where she stands, just outside the circle of candles, watching.

“I’m sorry,” you choke out. 

“I’m sorry, too,” she says from where she stands and where she lays. Her eyes are open now and milky white. She’s touching you now. Licks the blood from her lips.

Kiss her. Give her your breath. Whisper the words, don’t lose focus. Don’t look when she cries out from beyond the circle, falls to her knees. Don’t stop when she says she doesn’t know what’s happening, doesn’t know if she’ll really be her when this is over. Don’t stop now - or you’ll both be lost.

Breathe.

Take her breath when she breathes back, swallow down the rot she expels. Take her death into you, and give back your life, your warmth, your soul. Don’t falter. Don’t stop. 

“Luke…”

Scream.

* * *

“How do you feel?”

Luke’s voice is brimming with excitement as well as concern. He hasn’t stopped touching her since the ritual, even helping her to dress as she worked out the stiffness and the kinks in her body.

Nell looks over at him, her hand in his as they step outside the doors of Hill House and smiles. Her mouth is full of rotted teeth. There’s dirt under her fingernails. She feels the absence of her organs, the slow burn of Luke’s blood worming is way through her veins to replace her own. 

All he sees is his sister. 

“Alive.”


End file.
